Apex leaders are facing scrutiny as residents question the town’s transparency on issues with utility bills months after the town said it fixed billing issues from a 2024 cyberattack.

One resident told WRAL News she hadn’t received credits for her solar panels since June, and another said he’s paying substantially higher costs for shorter billing cycles.

“We’re not seeing any of our solar credits being applied to our bill whatsoever,” said Kelly Nivison, and Apex resident since 2019. “We were told, ‘Oh, it will be investigated, you will have credit supplied,’ and that never happened to us.”

Most of the issues began more than a year ago, when a cyberattack knocked the town’s network offline. Because of the attack, residents were unable to pay bills or apply for permits while the town’s network was down. 

Because of the attack, many residents were left paying outrageously high utility bills. One person claimed to have a $1,000 bill. An independent review of the attack found that while the town made initial corrections, the utility system was underpaid by $300,000.

As of September, no one has been charged in the cyberattack.

Despite the town saying the issues caused by the attack were fixed months earlier, many Apex residents told WRAL News they’ve been experiencing billing issues, and the town has done little to help them.

“There’s no transparency from the town of Apex on what is happening, on why this is happening,” said Brian McCuiston, who claimed the town charged him more in August for a shorter billing period than in July.

“We’re just left in the dark,” McCuiston said.

WRAL News brought the residents’ concerns to Apex Town Manager Randy Vosburg. While Vosburg confirmed the billing issues were fixed, he said transitioning to a new billing system caused some of the current problems.

Vosburg added that in some cases, the dates for the billing cycles are wrong, but the costs and usage rates should be correct.

“It’s complex,” Vosburg said, while acknowledging the prolonged issues from the cyberattack. “Despite what was printed on the dates, those cycles were actually close to those 30-day periods, which is a normal cycle, so there is a path to normalcy, and we are quickly going down that path.”

Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert said more needs to be done to fix the issues from the cyberattack. Gilbert proposed creating an Emergency Operations Center, but did not provide an answer on when that would happen or other possible plans.

“I have sounded an alarm for many months now, and I just need everyone to come along and clearly identify that there is a problem,” Gilbert said.

As for the woman missing her solar credits, Vosburg said the credits are applied differently under the new system. Vosburg also assured residents that the issues are nearly resolved, but stopped short of giving a timeline or specific solutions.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Vosburg said. “I promise.”